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Ducks forwards Ryan Getzlaf, left, and Corey Perry are both 33, and are under contract for three more seasons. But the Ducks need to be thinking of how they will eventually replace them, particularly when it comes to their choice in Friday’s NHL draft.
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

The end is coming, either by choice or the inevitable passage of time. The Ducks eventually will move on from their core of talented forwards, and perhaps this year’s draft will provide another replacement.

The Ducks hold the No. 23 overall pick in the draft, which begins Friday in Dallas with first-round selections. As ever, the possibility of a trade up or down looms, but if the Ducks retain their initial pick, they face an interesting choice as they ponder life beyond Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Ryan Kesler.

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All three talented forwards are 33 years old. Getzlaf and Perry are under contract for three more seasons, and Kesler has four more years. That is, combined, a salary cap hit of almost $24 million per season, which is a bit scary for players who almost certainly have entered the downside of their careers.

Regardless of whether the Ducks keep that trio intact for a while, or look to break it up for on-ice and financial reasons, it’s time to look to the near future, and there’s no better time than the draft.

The presumption is that the Ducks will look for a forward at No. 23, and perhaps a center, specifically.

Centers expected to be available in the Ducks’ draft range include Ryan McLeod (age 18), who scored 26 goals for Mississauga of the Ontario Hockey League last season; Isac Lundestrom (18), who plays in Sweden; Akil Thomas (18), who scored 22 goals for Niagara (OHL) last season; and Ty Dellandrea (17), who scored 27 goals for Flint (OHL) last season.

Should the Ducks look instead at wingers, two who play in Russia, 17-year-old Grigori Denisenko and 18-year-old Vitali Kravtsov, could be options.

Given their roster construction – with a solid group of talented young blue-liners – the first-round selection of a defenseman seems less likely for the Ducks, but a best-player-available scenario always can come into play.

The draft continues Saturday with rounds two through seven, and that’s when the Ducks might want to look at a goalie. John Gibson will return as the starter, but backup Ryan Miller turns 38 next month. The Ducks signed AHL goalie Kevin Boyle (age 26) to a two-year contract extension this week.

At the start, though, all eyes will be on the forwards. General Manager Bob Murray and his staff will have to decide whether to further boost a group that also was a focus in the 2016 and 2017 drafts.

The Ducks didn’t have a first-round pick last year, but used their two second-round picks on winger Maxime Comtois and center Antoine Morand. Comtois, now 19, scored 44 goals in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League last season, while Morand, 19, scored 26 goals in the QMJHL last season.

Their NHL time hasn’t yet arrived, but the Ducks have other promising forwards in their system. They used 2016 first-round picks on winger Max Jones and center Sam Steel, who scored 33 goals in the Western Hockey League last season and was the MVP of the junior-level Memorial Cup.

Troy Terry, who played two games for the Ducks last season after he finished his career at the University of Denver, figures to have a shorter path to a full-time NHL spot, perhaps even this season.

This will be Murray’s 10th draft as the Ducks’ general manager, and he is in familiar territory.

Because of their success in recent years, the Ducks have drafted below No. 20 in the first round seven times in the past nine years. This will be the Ducks’ highest first-round pick since they drafted Nick Ritchie at No. 10 in 2014.

On Saturday, the Ducks are scheduled to make one second-round pick (No. 54 overall), two third-round picks and one pick in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds. The Ducks do not hold a seventh-round pick.

Rich Hammond was a high school senior when the Rams left town in 1995, and now he's their beat writer for the Southern California News Group. A native of L.A., Rich broke in at the Daily Breeze as a college freshman and also has covered USC, the Kings, the Lakers and the Dodgers. He still loves sports and telling stories. Don't take the sarcastic tweets too seriously.